The Hermit's Secret
There is an old mansion just outside town which used to belong to a retired sea captain that died a while ago. Lately people have reported strange noises coming out of that old house. The magistrate has tried to hire someone to take a look, but nobody wants to go near the place. Are you scared too? Mission Notes This is a mission that seems to be tailored after a point-and-click type of adventure game. You will be inside the mansion and will have to look for clues to solve the secret of the mansion. What you will find inside: in the library (the big round room on your local map) there'll be a number of bookshelves. These will be arranged alphabetically, with each bookshelf telling you which letter it contains when you click on it. There is also a large number of locked doors on both floors of the mansion - most of these are actually decoys, there are only two rooms which you'll be able to enter during this mission. There is an upstairs room at the back looking like a study, containing a fireplace and some scattered papers. Mission Objectives * Investigate the Mansion Step-by-step Walkthrough All the doors in the mansion are locked. You will have to find a key first. Go to the study on the second floor and look for the scattered papers. Click on them, and you'll read something about a book called "The Key to the Stars: A Treatise on Maqahauban Knowledge". This is your first clue Go to the library and look for the bookshelf that contains the books starting with K (for Key). Click on it and you'll find the book mentioned above. Inside the book you'll find a key. This key is for the Parlor room downstairs. This room has several exits. One of them is just outside the library as you walk back towards the entrance of the house, another one is just opposite from the entrance, next to the staircase. Either of them will work. Unlock the door with the key (by clicking on it) and enter. Inside the parlor there's a fireplace which you can examine. After doing so, you'll find a slightly burned note telling you about the Gosling key which is in its usual hiding place - wherever that may be. Exit the parlor and go upstairs. In the upstairs corridor just outside the library, there's another locked door. This door is flanked on both sides by a number of portraits on the wall. These can be clicked on. You'll probably not be able to make out many details in these paintings if your graphic settings are turned low, which is a pity, because there's your next clue - most show people of various ages, but one of them rather incongruously shows a goose (Gosling = young goose). Click on this picture to find another key. The key you found unlocks the door you're already standing in front of. Do so and enter the room. Inside, you'll find some diaries on a writing table. Click on them to read them. While doing that, you're suddenly interrupted by a crash from downstairs! Exit the room and walk downstairs. There is a dining room just off the entrance hall near the staircase. Enter this dining room. In there you'll find the source of the strange noises: a roaming dog that's found its way into the mansion somehow. "Talk" to the dog (<>) to finish the mission.